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        <h2 class="toptitle">Learning Center</h2>

        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">What is Forex?</a></h2>

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                    <p><strong>The Forex Market</strong></p>

                    <p>Unlike other financial markets, the foreign exchange (Forex) market has no central location.
                        There is no stock exchange and there are no set market hours. Rather, the Forex market is an
                        electronic network of approximately 5,000 banks around the world that exchange money through
                        electronic trading systems. It is a global market and, as such, operates 24 hours a day, from
                        Sunday through Friday, corresponding with the opening and closing of financial centers around
                        the world. Any time, day or night, there should be buyers and sellers somewhere in the
                        world.</p>

                    <p>The 24 hour market means that exchange rates and market conditions can change at any time in
                        response to developments that can take place at any time. Traders must be alert to the
                        possibility that a sharp move in an exchange rate can occur during an off hour, elsewhere in the
                        world.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Fundamental Analysis</a></h2>

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                    <p>Aside from technical analysis, another primary approach to analyzing currency market fluctuations
                        is called fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis is the examination of economic indicators,
                        asset markets and political considerations when evaluating a nation's currency in terms of
                        another. The key to fundamental analysis is to gather and interpret this information and act
                        before the information is incorporated into the currency price. The lag time between an event
                        and its resulting market response presents a trading opportunity for the fundamentalist.</p>

                    <p>There are thousands of fundamental factors that have an impact on the Forex market, from the
                        price of oil to the dealings of Central Banks. Obviously some factors will have a larger impact
                        on price movements than others, and the following examples of powerful fundamental factors will
                        provide you with a solid foundation. Fundamentals affect the supply and demand of a currency. We
                        have outlined several fundamental factors that have influenced the Forex market in the past,
                        shaping the future direction of any given currency or the market as a whole. Each fundamental
                        analysis tool is based on an underlying fundamental factor that will give you a glimpse into the
                        future movements of a currency. Monitoring the changes in these fundamental tools will give you
                        advance warning of reversals and continuations of trends.</p>
                    <ol>
                        <li>Decisions on interest rates made by central banks such as the US Federal Reserve or the
                            European Central bank (ECB) monthly.
                        </li>
                        <li>Quarterly GDP figures. Only preliminary national GDP figures generally have the effect of
                            changing market sentiment.
                        </li>
                        <li>Market sentiment data. Market expectations are formed from one week to two days before the
                            event. Participants become well positioned based on expectations. If the figures are not a
                            surprise, profit taking is often the only result.
                        </li>
                        <li>Political Events. National elections, the September 11th attacks, and the war in Iraq are
                            examples of events that have affected currency values.
                        </li>
                        <li>Major indices. Inflation indices, Institute of Supply Management (ISM) in the US and the
                            Purchasing Management Index (PMI) in Europe are also carefully followed by traders.
                        </li>
                        <li>National industrial production figures US non-farm payrolls (indicating new jobs created),
                            Michigan
                            sentiment figures in the US, the western German business climate or IFO index, and the
                            Tankan quarterly survey in Japan
                        </li>
                    </ol>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">The Traded Currencies</a></h2>

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                    <p>The Dollar, Euro, Yen, and Pound are the most traded currencies. They combine for a huge bulk of
                        the trading transactions in any given day. Corporations and banks have known this for years, and
                        have often used Forex for hedging purposes. With the increase in global trade, multinational
                        corporations have used the Forex market to manage their risk in changes in currency rates. The
                        most common currency pairs are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF, which together totals 63
                        % (two-thirds) of all Forex spot trades</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Forex Trading</a></h2>

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                    <p>A large portion of all foreign exchange deals are done in the spot Forex market and that is where
                        GFS Forex & Futures operates. A spot transaction represents a direct exchange of one currency
                        for another at the current rate. It is important to know that when buying currencies in the spot
                        market, you are not actually purchasing a big pile of cash or coins, rather you are purchasing a
                        bank deposit denominated in the particular currency at a bank in the particular country.</p>

                    <p>The term "Foreign Exchange" refers to the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of
                        another, which is why currencies are always quoted and traded in pairs. An example would be
                        Euro/US Dollar (EUR/USD) or US Dollar/Japanese Yen (USD/JPY). In order to buy a particular
                        amount of the first (or base) currency, you must sell a certain amount of the second (or terms)
                        currency. That certain amount of the second currency you must sell is determined by the exchange
                        rate. The forces of supply & demand in the market determine the exchange rate. Every currency
                        pair has a different unique exchange rate.</p>

                    <p>In the foreign exchange market there are always two prices for every currency - one price at
                        which sellers of that currency want to sell, and one price at which buyers of the currency want
                        to buy. The buying price is called the bid and the selling price is called the ask. The
                        difference between the bid and ask prices is called the spread. A market maker must quote both a
                        bid and an ask price for any currency for which he is making a market. </p>

                    <p>All Forex transactions involve two currencies. You are simultaneously buying one currency and
                        selling the other in the pair. The first currency in any given pair (e.g. EUR/USD) is called the
                        base currency and the second is called the quote currency. A trader always buys or sells a fixed
                        amount of the base currency, in standard lots of 100,000 units. For example, if a trader buys
                        EUR/USD, he is buying 100,000 Euros and selling the necessary amount of US Dollars as prescribed
                        by the current exchange rate. When speaking, the base currency is always stated first. For
                        example, a quote for "Dollar-Yen" means that the Dollar is the base currency in the pair.
                        Traders always think in terms of how much it costs to buy or sell the base currency, so bid and
                        offer quotes are always for the base currency.</p>

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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">The Traded Currencies</a></h2>

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                    <p>The Dollar, Euro, Yen, and Pound are the most traded currencies. They combine for a huge bulk of
                        the trading transactions in any given day. Corporations and banks have known this for years, and
                        have often used Forex for hedging purposes. With the increase in global trade, multinational
                        corporations have used the Forex market to manage their risk in changes in currency rates. The
                        most common currency pairs and their respective percentages of spot Forex trades are EUR/USD
                        (28%), USD/JPY (17 %), GBP/USD (14 %), and USD/CHF (4 %), which together totals 63 %
                        (two-thirds) of all Forex spot trades.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Analysis Overload</a></h2>

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                    <p>The equity and futures markets offer an incredible selection of different investments to choose
                        from. There are literally tens of thousands of stocks and mutual funds, and hundreds of
                        commodities to trade. The Forex market is much simpler to monitor. You really only need to keep
                        track of 5 different currencies, the Euro, the Yen, the British Pound, the Swiss Franc, and the
                        US dollar. The 2 other major currencies trades are the Australian and Canadian Dollars, leaving
                        an analysts with at the most 7 currency pairs to study.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Leverage</a></h2>

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                    <p>Leverage is the use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to
                        increase the potential return of an investment. The leverage available in Forex trading is one
                        of main attractions of this market for many traders. Leveraged trading, or trading on margin,
                        simply means that you are not required to put up the full value of the position. Forex provides
                        more leverage than stocks or futures. In Forex trading, the amount of leverage available can be
                        up to 100 times the value of your account. With leverage, you can capture higher returns on a
                        smaller market movement. More importantly, leverage allows traders to increase their buying
                        power and utilize less capital to trade. Of course, increasing leverage increases risk.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Trending market</a></h2>

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                    <p>Currencies rarely spend time in tight trading ranges and have the tendency to develop strong
                        trends. Much of the volume is speculative in nature, and a technically trained trader can easily
                        spot new trends and breakouts, which provide many opportunities to enter and exit the market for
                        profit</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Low transaction costs</a></h2>

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                    <p>The spot foreign currency markets eliminate exchange and clearing fees, which in turn lowers
                        transaction costs. The efficiency created by a purely electronic marketplace enables clients to
                        directly deal with the market maker, eliminating both middle men, and ticket costs. Under normal
                        market conditions, the spot foreign currency markets offer round the clock liquidity providing
                        traders with tight spreads during both intraday and overnight trading.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Ability to profit in Bull or Bear markets</a></h2>

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                    <p>Unlike the equity market, there is no restriction on short selling in the currency market. Profit
                        potential exists in the currency market regardless of whether a trader is long or short, or
                        which way the market is moving. This means a trader has equal potential to profit in a rising or
                        falling market.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Why Trade Forex?</a></h2>

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                    <p><strong>Explore the opportunity to trade foreign currencies just like the banks and major
                        financial institutions!</strong></p>

                    <p>The Foreign Exchange market (FX) is the largest, most liquid financial market in the world,
                        roughly 20 times larger than the combined volume of all U.S. equity markets with a daily trading
                        volume over $3 trillion. In years past, the world's largest commercial banks have dominated the
                        FX market, offering Interbank dealing spreads to only their largest customers. With the advent
                        of online trading, both retail and smaller institutional participants now have indirect access
                        to this market through registered Forex Dealer Merchants, like GFS, who act as counter parties
                        to, and remain responsible for, all customer FOREX transactions.</p>
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        <h2 class="acc_trigger"><a href="#">Market Liquidity</a></h2>

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                    <p>The Forex market is the most actively traded market in the world, 24 hours a day from Sunday
                        night until Friday afternoon. This liquidity provides currency traders with the ability to enter
                        and exit trades regardless of the size of the transaction.</p>
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